Partial Eclipse of the Heart
by AngelicVampire
Summary: They all thought they knew him. But they never REALLY knew him. After an unfortunate discovery, Casper, Mantha and Ra slowly begin to uncover how the little vampire has gone by through his life. It'll be sad, so please don't read if you don't want to. Please, no bad comments either.
1. Chapter 1

_Silence etched through the attic, the only sound being heard was the occasional sniffles coming from the creature._

 _Technically he shouldn't be in here. But he'd managed to duck and weave through all the traps, and made it to the hidden attic. As for the door, well... he stole some sulfuric acid from Professor Burns room and poured it on the lock. He knew Casper and the others wouldn't be too pleased about this, but that wouldn't matter in a few minutes now._

 _Tired, cold, shaky hands worked at tying the loop. This was proved difficult, however, as his acid tears threatened to burn the rope._

 _Swiping a hand across his tired, teary eyes, he tried to make the tears go away. They wouldn't. He wouldn't be able to stop crying. And he knew that. But he needed to finish this too..._

 _Ducking and weaving the rope, he smiled, having finally finished the loop. This would be it. He'd finally be rid of everything. It wasn't like anyone would care anyway. No one liked him. And that was fine. Because, to be honest, HE didn't even like him. The only one he even remotely liked was Casper, and the ghost had become fed up with him a long time ago. This was it. Everything was going to finally end. And, as morbid as it would sound to anyone, it excited the child to no possible end._

 _Standing up and grabbing a chair, the child trudged over to the nearest plank of wood on the ceiling, turning into a bat briefly and flying up to it, tying the rope around it and making sure it was secure. Hopping back down, he climbed onto the chair and pulled the looped rope around his neck. This was it... he was really doing it..._

 _Would anyone care...? Would he be missed? Would they at least notice he was gone?_

 _In technicality, Casper and his group would notice. They would probably be the first to find him actually. After all... he WAS in their secret attic._

 _Taking a deep breath, the child kicked the chair out from beneath his feet, immediately feeling the air being knocked out of his system. The pain attacking his neck and insides. He tried to remain as quiet as possible, as the chair had made enough noise as it was._

 _His throat burned... his lungs ached... he was beginning to see stars... this was really it. He'd finally be freed of everything. The pain would leave him forever. The pain he caused others would cease. The world would be freed from his cold gray grasp._

 _The only sad thing about all this? The only person who would possibly miss him was Casper, and even then those odds were slim. Even if the ghost helped him every now and then, he could tell he'd begun to hate him. It was obvious to him, and probably the whole school. And that's what saddened him. The friendliest ghost known to man had begun to hate him._

 _Feeling his ear pulling back, he heard rushing footsteps coming his way. And yet, he didn't care. He was losing his sense of reality. It was to late for them to save him. He was as good as dead. And yet, once again, he didn't care. All he wanted was to be free of this never ending nightmare. Slowly, his world faded into nothing._

* * *

Casper knew something was wrong when he saw the door lock to the secret attic was burned off. He knew something was wrong when the portrait of Jasper said he saw someone with sulfuric acid heading towards the lock. And he somehow knew all this had something to do with Thatch.

Mantha and Ra were not far behind him, ducking and weaving through the traps. They were really just hoping Thatch wasn't burrowing through all their stuff. They just knew the vampire would use if against them in the future.

Finally they reached the door. However, nothing could've prepared them for what they were about to see.

The group each have out a tiny shriek, Casper being the only to work up the courage to rush over and cut the rope, carefully catching the unconscious vampire and gently laying him down on the ground.

Mantha and Ra slowly regained their senses and rushed over to the two and carefully sitting the vampire up. The zombie girl gently brushed her fingers against the ropeburns, frowning at how cold his skin felt.

" Casper, we need to get him to the nurse! "

She cried, terrified by how little the vampire was breathing.

" I-I don't think he has much time left! "

" R-right! "

Casper finally responded, barely able to find his voice. He was just dumbstruck by all of this. None of it made any sense to the ghost child.

As carefully as they could, the children picked the unconscious vampire up. Casper had his head, Ra had his torso, and Mantha had his legs. To their surprise, the vampire was actually very light. In fact, Casper would probably be capable of carrying him himself. That's how little he weighed.

Not wasting anytime, the group rushed their way out of the secret attic and into the monster catcher, sincerely praying that they didn't get caught by one of the traps.

As they ran, they couldn't help but worry about the unconscious creature in their arms. They couldn't help but wonder why he tried to hang himself. He was a scary vampire who people feared, the ultimate goal in Scare School. He had it great. Why would he do something this, well, stupid?

" DUCK! "

Ra cried out, and immediately everyone complied. A party whistle blew over their heads, just barely missing them and the sleeping creature. But they knew they couldn't dodge like that forever. Thatch was getting worse, and they knew this. They needed to pick up the pace.

Luckily for them, however, the door that led back to school was straight ahead. They were half way there.

With all the strength she could gather, Mantha kicked the door open, and quickly rushed out with the others in tow. The three stopped for a moment, taking a small breath and examining the creature in their arms.

Thatch's skin was growing paler, a white shade, and he was barely breathing. Even if he'd hung himself, however, he should've regained his breath by now though. Why was he still this breathless? The group decided not to waste time wondering and simply picked him up again and took off running for the nurse again.

Finally the nurse was reached, and the group was left to pace the lobby for news on the vampires condition. The three friends were still surprised this had happened. It just didn't seem real... no one would've thought Thatch would ever try something like... that...

The one probably the most terrified was Casper. The ghost kept thinking that this was somehow HIS fault. Like he'd somehow pushed Thatch into it. Like how his witty comebacks somehow hurt Thatch more than the vampire was willing to admit. In reality, Casper probably hadn't done anything. He was far to nice. But no one could talk the ghost out of these assumptions.

After what seemed like an eternity, the nurse came out, instantly greeted by the three concerned children. Yet the gorgon remained calm and collected, looking at the children.

" Well, there is good news, "

The woman began.

" And there is a couple bits of bad news."

" What's the good news? "

Mantha asked, wanting to hear it before the bad news. Especially since there seemed to be more than one but of bad news.

" The good news is, he's alive. "

The children heaved a heavy sigh of relief, glad to know their efforts hadn't been in vain. But the bad news continued to frighten them.

" The bad news is... well... "

The nurse seemed to be having trouble talking about it. Which was rare for her, as she normally had no problem talking about a patients private problems. This was not a good sign...

" It appears, as you know, Thatch tried to commit suicide. "

Casper choked at hearing this. He knew it was true- he had been there. But actually hearing it...

" And it seems like he did more than just hanging himself... "

" Wh-what do you mean...? "

Ra found himself asking, truly afraid of the answer.

" I mean, while I was patching him up, I found his wrists were slit. "

Casper gasped and covered his mouth, truly horrified at what he'd heard.

" H-he... "

The ghost whimpered, unable to even finish his sentence.

" Yes. "

The gorgon responded.

" That's all the bad news. I've called his parents, they should be here soon. "

" I-is he awake? "

Casper found himself asking, leaning and trying to look behind her. Slowly the nurse nodded, and gestured that they could enter. With dread and heavy hearts, the children entered the office. Almost immediately they felt saddened.

Thatch was leaning against a small pile of pillows that kept his back slightly arched and supported his head and neck well. He looked tired, black lines beneath his eyes, and he looked straight ahead at nothing with no expression on his face. His neck and wrists were heavily bandaged, and they looked like they'd be incredibly painful.

Taking a deep breath, the group of three slowly made their way to either side of the vampire, even more nervous when Thatch showed no indication that he acknowledged their presence.

" Thatch? "

Casper asked gently, terrified when Thatch didn't even stir.

" Are... you... ok...? "

Once again the vampire didn't acknowledge them, merely blinking and rolling his head to the side a bit. Yet he stared at nothing. Ra, feeling terribly unnerved, cracked a soft smile, trying to break the silence.

" B-boy, it sure is lucky we found you when we did man! Had we even been a few seconds later, we might've been- "

" Why couldn't you just let me die...? "

The group pulled back, having finally heard the bat speak. Unable to believe what they'd heard... his voice so cold and broken... so sad and yet so emotionless... this, wasn't the Thatch they knew. This couldn't be reality. This couldn't be happening...

" ... Thatch, you can't possibly... mean that, I... "

Mantha gaped out, not believe ing her voice was her own.

" I do mean that. "

Thatch said tiredly, blinking yet still not focusing on anything. However, his eyes grew damp...

" I wish you all hadn't found me... I wish you all hadn't saved me... I wish I weren't here right now... I... I wish I were dead... "

Finally the small vampire began to show emotions: pure anguish. His eyes clenched shut, tears squeezing out of them, small form beginning to wreck in shakes. The trios hearts simply going out to the other.

Right in this moment, the nurse came back and, seeing the situation, shooed the three out the door.

* * *

 _Casper couldn't believe what he saw. He couldn't believe that Thatch, some how... was so lost in his misery that he tried to... take his own life._

 _The ghost could only ask why. Why the vampire was like this. Why he was so depressed... what drove him to this... something had to be very wrong with their vampire_ bully.


	2. Chapter 2

_A few days went by. The news of Thatchs actions seemed to spread like wildfire. Everyone in the school now knew of his actions and what he'd tried to do. And everyone was unable to believe it. While some seemed surprised, the trio were mildly surprised when they didn't seem all too worried. Like, they didn't believe that he'd actually tried to do it. Or it was an act to get attention. And that appalled the three. Appalled them, as they'd seen it first hand. They saw him while he was hanging there. They saw how he was when he was at the nurses office. They knew... this was_ no _act. The vampire was in pain. Deep pain..._

* * *

Casper slowly walked over to the nurses office, hoping Thatch would be awake. He hadn't spoken since that day. And he was hoping to get him to talk today. He wanted to understand. He wanted to help Thatch out of this rut...

The ghost froze, however, when he found someone else visiting Thatch. Quickly going invisible, he looked on. Amazed, to find it was... Thatchs parents. Both looking... furious. Furious, at their son, in the condition he was in.

" You're in serious trouble young man. "

The woman hissed quietly, glaring and pointing at him in disgust.

" How _dare_ you pull a stunt like that? Now the schools questioning us. About your home life. "

" We never wanted that kind of attention mister. Now they're on to us. Thinking we might've done something to lead you to this. "

The man hissed out darkly. Something about this man, just sending chills down Casper's spine. He knew Mantha was afraid of this man. She said she heard him yelling at Thatch over his phone...

* * *

 _A man could be heard shouting from the other end, and Mantha could see Thatch visibly tensen upon hearing the harsh voice through the ear piece. It was to the point Mantha could hear every word the man said. He was saying something like Thatch was worthless, and he couldn't do anything right. He kept messing up, and this campout would be a disaster._

 _Thatch bit his lip, as if trying to prevent himself from crying out, slowly falling to the ground in a criss cross position._

 _Mantha couldn't believe all this... was she hearing wrong? How could his own father be talking to him that way? How was Thatch able to contain himself so well in this sad moment? Finally all was quiet on the other end, Thatch taking a deep breath before whispering._

 _" Yeah... yeah ok dad... "_

* * *

Casper never forgot what Mantha said about that phone call. It scared him so bad still. And now, meeting the man who'd said such things about Thatch, was terrifying. Yet... the ghost had to watch on. He had to know what was going on...

" This is not going to go unpunished young man. "

The man continued on, glaring harshly and getting right up to Thatchs face.

" We're taking you home just as soon as the school says you're _well enough_ , and we're going to make sure you never try this again. "

" That's right. You're going to regret this young man. We're going to make you miserable. "

" ... You already do. "

Casper gasped mentally, to _finally_ hearing Thatch speak. He hadn't spoken in days now. And, hearing what he said, was a sure sign of something wrong. The couple pulled back to their child's voice, looking... furious.

" You're the main reason I did this. And no matter what, I'm going to try again. I'm _going_ to end all this pain. This pointless existence I call my life. So do your worst. Nothing you can do to me will _ever_ make me stop. "

Casper couldn't believe what he was hearing... Thatch, saying such things. Never stopping his attempts to kill himself... never stopping till he got what he wanted... it was, so terrifying. Thatch, so lost in his pain that he was going to try so hard to kill himself... his words, as well, seemed to make his parents even madder. The woman, hissing and fangs bared. Pulling her hand back and... _slapping_ Thatch _hard!_ Thatchs head turning upon impact- of course- yet... strangely, he didn't seem bothered much. Like he'd barely acknowledged it even...

" You _brat!_ "

The woman screamed, looking more enraged then Casper had ever seen anyone before. Suddenly the man covered her mouth, saying lowly.

" I hear someone coming. We need to go. "

The woman huffed before following her husband out, Casper turning and finding them meeting up with the nurse. The pair giving false words of merely coming to visit their son and try to figure out why he did such a thing. And Casper... felt sick to his stomach from listening to them. Wanting no more than to make them stop... yet, not wanting to give away he'd heard them.

Slowly, he walked into the room (still invisible), and finding Thatch... with his eyes closed now, tears squeezing out once more. Casper, while not knowing _all_ of what was wrong, now understood, the big picture. His parents... we're cruel. Evil. _Abusive_. Why didn't Thatch speak up? Why didn't he tell anyone how bad they were? Why... why, was all Casper could ask himself. For he had no answers. All he knew, was a part of what brought the vampire to suicide...


End file.
